Contextual specificity of habituation in earthworms

This article reports the context specificity of habituation in earthworms (Lumbricidae family). Using earthworms as subjects-which are typically sensitive to odors-the present study sought to evaluate the context specificity of habituation by giving subjects repeated exposures to a bright light in one odorous context, after which they were presented again with the same stimulus in a different context. The recovery of responding in this second context was higher in the group where the odor of this context was different, in comparison with a control group for which the context was the same. To provide further support for these findings, a second experiment was run using a within-subject design where all subjects were trained in both of the conditions. In this case, in addition to the light, vibration was used as a second stimulus. The subjects again displayed a higher increase in responding in the condition where the context was different (in odor) in comparison with the case in which the context was the same, thus replicating the results obtained in the first experiment. We discuss the implications of these results in the light of current data and learning theories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).